FURIA fall Heroicly in the semifinals
FURIA had the first real shot Brazil has had at winning a Major since the turbulent downfall of the SK/Luminosity squad in 2018. A 3-0 run in the Legends Stage, followed by a victory over Ukrainian powerhouse Natus Vincere in the quarterfinals left the Brazilian side poised to hoist the Major trophy on home soil. Unfortunately, this fairy tale ending was not to be, as Heroic came out ahead in a close three-map affair to claim their place in the finals versus Outsiders.
Map one would be Inferno and with FURIA starting on the CT-side it was the perfect chance for the Brazilian side to get themselves locked in and have the crowd roaring them to victory. FURIA lost the pistol and the following two rounds but FURIA were on the scoreboard in the fourth and by the sixth had already tied up the game with Rafael "saffee" Costa showing signs of a big improvement over his performance against NAVI yesterday. It took a big round from the Dane's IGL and AWPer Casper "cadiaN" Møller finding three unanswered kills to allow his team to post their fourth round of the half and halt the Brazilian storm. FURIA would immediately wrestle back control with a composed and controlled retake on the B bombsite in a 3v3 situation, propelling the Brazilians to a 9-6 half.
FURIA carried their first-half momentum into the second as they steamrolled the Heroic defense on the B site to take it and the following rounds to give themselves a six-round lead heading into the first gun round. The first gun round started well for the CTs with Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard finding a kill on the onrushing Mac-10 wielding arT, but a smart mid-round switch up onto the B site left the Danes spinning and the failed retake gave FURIA 13 rounds. There was no stopping the Brazilian's walking away with the win on Inferno which would leave Heroic needing to overcome the FURIA team on Ancient.
Heroic would take the pistol round on their CT-side and follow it up with the next two rounds to get map two off to a good start. However, FURIA would wrestle back control with big rounds from KSCERATO who was once again looking sharp. FURIA took another big round with the scores at 4-3 after they managed to lock out the CTs in a 3v3 post-plant. The Danes finally found their footing and put up a stout defense with the Brazilian's attack failing to manage to put up another round in the half. With a 10-5 lead, Heroic now had to show some prowess on the much harder T-side of Ancient if they were to push the series to a third and final map.
FURIA failed to win the pistol round which forced them to concede a seven-round advantage. The atmosphere in the FURIA camp was turning sour as they dropped the first gun round meaning it was eleven rounds since their last victory and Heroic were running away with the Brazilians map pick and looking very good to force the series onto a decider final map. FURIA had to concede map point before they finally found some momentum with KSCERATO doing enough to make the crowd believe there was hope at 15-9 in a 3v3 retake, taking three kills and defusing the bomb to inch the Brazilian team closer.
Amazingly FURIA completed their sensational comeback to force overtime as Heroic got caught trying to overcomplicate their late-round play and walked back into the crosshairs of the waiting Brazilian side. Ten rounds in a row FURIA had strung together, and Heroic were left kicking themselves for wasting ten map points. Once in overtime, the two squads traded blows before Heroic eventually reclaimed the lead, with the Danes not letting it slip away again as they closed out the map 19-17, taking the series to Nuke.
Demoralized after falling at the final hurdle on Ancient, matters were not made better for FURIA on Nuke as Heroic were able to turn a pistol round victory into a dominant 7-1 lead on their T-side. Despite how bleak things looked, FURIA composed themselves towards the end of their defense to whittle Heroic's lead to a 10-5 score at the half. A second pistol round victory for Heroic crushed the hopes of fans in the Jeunesse Arena, as the Danes marched on to a 16-5 Nuke victory, securing Heroic an appearance in tomorrow's grand finals.
HEROICFURIA| HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Martin 'stavn' Lund |
66 - 51 | +15 | 86.2 | 72.2% | 1.29 |
| Casper 'cadiaN' Møller |
56 - 47 | +9 | 79.4 | 74.7% | 1.17 |
| Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard |
52 - 53 | -1 | 72.2 | 67.1% | 1.00 |
| Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck |
42 - 49 | -7 | 69.2 | 68.4% | 0.97 |
| René 'TeSeS' Madsen |
35 - 55 | -20 | 54.6 | 64.6% | 0.83 |
| FURIA |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kaike 'KSCERATO' Cerato |
68 - 45 | +23 | 94.3 | 72.2% | 1.36 |
| Rafael 'saffee' Costa |
58 - 53 | +5 | 75.7 | 70.9% | 1.04 |
| Yuri 'yuurih' Santos |
45 - 46 | -1 | 60.9 | 73.4% | 0.95 |
| Andrei 'arT' Piovezan |
45 - 55 | -10 | 65.1 | 62.0% | 0.87 |
| André 'drop' Abreu |
38 - 54 | -16 | 61.3 | 65.8% | 0.80 |
The grand final of the IEM Rio Major is set to take place tomorrow at 01:00PM, with Heroic set to take on Outsiders for the prestigious title.
